Dr. Jan-Claas Dajka 

Environmental policy seems biased towards managing tipping points. The utility of such theshold-based approaches has been recently questioned with regards to managing certain ecosystem properties. Biodiversity could be the most contentious one. Threshold values are particularly difficult to apply to biodiversity because of its multivariate nature, one of the main reasons why the mostly threshold-based Aichi Biodiversity Targets set for 2020 have all failed. Recently, in an approach to arrive at an actionable target similar to the 2°C-target for climate policy, researchers have yet again called for a one-dimensional threshold. The call is for targeting the prevention of a maximum 20 species extinctions per year. This approach falls short in addressing the many layers that biodiversity presents.

I believe we can improve the policy approach to biodiversity conservation through a discussion between researchers from a wide opinion spectrum on biodiversity and tipping points. I propose a workshop in which we will discuss the overarching research questions:

1. Are threshold-based frameworks useful for the management of biodiversity?

2. Can biodiversity be an insurance against ecosystem tipping points?

Rather than formulating yet another one-dimensional threshold, the central aim is to arrive at multi-dimensional targets for meaningful biodiversity conservation.